Clay Alternatives

B

Bert

Active member
I have been doing some research on clay alternatives like the Nano Skin Mitts/Towels and most of the threads I am finds are over a year ago when these products came out.  Many people said after using these, they believe their clay bars will start collecting dust.  Just curious since a year has gone by, are you still using only the clay alternatives or have you found yourself going back to clay bars?


 


Thank you for any info you can provide.
 
Catch-22 said:
I still use clay, but I still haven't tried anything else? How do these alternatives actually differ from clay?
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Go to Youtube and put nano skin in the search.  The videos will give you an idea of how they work.
 
It really depends on the car and how it reacts to the decontamination method. I still find myself going back and forth between clay & the SM Arnold Towel. 
 
David Fermani said:
It really depends on the car and how it reacts to the decontamination method. I still find myself going back and forth between clay & the SM Arnold Towel. 
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So, would you say that the clay alternatives are a nice tool for a detailer to have in his tool belt but the detailer probably should not completely toss clay aside?


 


When you say how the car reacts to the decon method, I am assuming you mean some cars may react with marring due to soft paint?
 
A decontamination wash system like Valugard ABC. It may even more effectively remove the contamination that they clay alone.
 
bert31 said:
So, would you say that the clay alternatives are a nice tool for a detailer to have in his tool belt but the detailer probably should not completely toss clay aside?


 


When you say how the car reacts to the decon method, I am assuming you mean some cars may react with marring due to soft paint?
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Exactly. On soft paints I've seen heavy marring from a clay towel. When that happens I resort to blue Clay Magic. 


 


I don't see a day where detailing clay won't be used. Even all these new Decon products are still leaving something behind. 
 
Try the nano skin red foam hand-held "block" covered with the skin material. It is the medium version and really impresses me. Big piece of foam that wont fatigue your hand like clay doea for me. My method with it or the DA pad is to spray down the panel with onr clay lube and work say 1/4 of the panel, wipe with a 600gsm towel and then wipe off the pad with a short nap mf to clean it. Then do the next section of the panel, etc.
 
They should have no problem removing the visible portion of the particle. Not exactly sure if they completely remove 100% of the issue if that matters for you?
 
They do remove rust blooms on the surface quite easily. I honestly havent worked on a car with good enough paint to notice any light marring. But I think my method of wiping the pad frequently is a key to reducing marring
 
A lot of the cars I do in the spring have extensive rail dust ( mostly from snow plow blades ) and the clay removes the particulate easily the rust stain left can take a little polishing. I guess where I was heading is clay to remove the rail dust, nanopad to remove the remainder and stain then polish

 
Never seem to get a clear answer there .. Does ironx react with iron or iron oxide. Not interested in either tho.
 
IronX or the ABC system together with claying should be alot more efficient imo than using the nanopad after claying. The biggest advantage nanopad has over clay is speed but it is alot more expensive. I would prefer to use and dump the clay after using on those rust stain than staining the nanopad.
 
i've not had the pad get stained. I dont think it would really. the pad is actually much cheaper than clay. not the upfront cost but the DA pad they say can last 100 cars and it costs $50ish. 100g clay costs at least $10 and only lasts a few cars.


 


i'd also not nano pad after clay, to me they do the same thing so ABC or ironx then pad OR clay.
 
Nanoskin medium or fine grade wash mitt do a great job at surface decon. Make sure to use plenty of car wash or detail spray as a lube with it.


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iI'm with Bill D. on this- ValuGard's ABC system, though I'll sometimes use clay along with it.


 


I use clay a lot, but not for serious decontamination. For me it's more suited to superficial contamination, not anything that's down in the paints pores/microfissures/etc. and not for anything that needs truly neutralized either.


 


Never tried the nanoskin-type products, but then I'm simply not gonna rub my paint with something like that; I don't polish after I decontaminte and I won't risk having to due to marring (yeah, I can clay without marring, but I understand that most people would never bother doing it the way I do).
 
I was one that got a clay "towel" and didn't like it at first. Problem was me, big surprise there! You have to use a lot of lube OR what I learned to do - double the amount of car wash dilution. If you have paint overspray and you're using clay to remove, you are working harder, NOT smarter. The Sam Arnold clay towel or one of the clones will save a ton of time, and is a lot less tiring to use. I fold into forths and when all sides are gunked up, I rinse and start over. I'm not ashamed to say I was an idiot and after figuring out HOW to use it, I'm a convert. I still keep a ball of clay around, but it only comes out for spot treatments. Now, that rant was about paint over-spray, but I feel the same about other crap too.
 
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